Sooners News Daily 6.18.15

FOOTBALL

Sigh, offseason. It’s like the media just can’t help themselves. I’m an OU fan, and a HUGE one, and even I’m tired of reading this same type of stuff year after year. Not to mention OU even being discussed as a ‘darkhorse’ contender for a Big 12 title is all kinds of wrong for a program of their stature.

As I was saying….

And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for OU getting pub. Not trying to be negative, but call me crazy I kind of feel like it might be a good thing if people, the media or otherwise, were underrating this team/program for a change instead of overrating them. Maybe a little chip on their shoulder could be a motivator. I don’t know, just a theory.

Whoa.

OTHER

I found this story on which channels people would actually pay for kind of fascinating. (Variety)

 

131 Comments

  • brainpimp says:

    1st? No way.

  • Sooner 4Ever says:

    2nd… WAY!

  • MrBigsby says:

    If Baylor playing in Australia is a way to get them to actually play a P5 school, I’m all for it. But you watch, it won’t be a top tier PAC12 team either, look for it to be Cal or WSU.

  • Sooner Ray says:

    Texsa attempting to drink away the pain.

  • Baylor and TCU having 10/13 of the ESPN top 300 is alarming for OU in terms of recruiting. We have GOT to get back to being dominant again on the recruiting trail. Winning helps, but recruiting helps winning. I am really hoping that the new coaching staff will continue what Monty was trying to do (in certain aspects). I am excited to see what kind of D-line that Reynolds can put together, and I think we have already seen how Cooks and Riley can and will recruit. If we can just shore up some of the lose ends on recruiting, we can get back into the top 10 and that will help on the field a LOT, in my opinion.

    • John Garner says:

      Feel your frustration. But we have to win first to bump up recruiting. Losing to Baylor and TCU doesn’t help. And getting clobbered by Clemson really hurts.

    • D Hunter Sanchez says:

      Ah, OU finished 14th in the Nation, Texass 12th…TCU 34th, Baylor 43rd…Not sure what you mean by dominant? Dominant over who? I do not think 8-5 is reflective of recruiting or lack of talent. It was talented people making mental errors and coaching on D.

  • TheFuerte says:

    Been a while. My wife gave birth to a 2033 recruit yesterday. Our second.

  • Eric Hoffpauir says:

    Look on the bright side. Texas isn’t even being mentioned as a darkhorse contender.

  • Lane Gilstrap says:

    Maybe we should get on board with playing in different locations and use it as a recruiting tool. Such as maybe a game against Hawaii or UCF or just have another team meet us for a game in some cool country.

    • Soonerfandave84 says:

      OU vs USC in Tokyo…OU already has a football connection in Japan

      • John Garner says:

        Good idea, except OU vs Oregon. This time we recover the ball.

        • Soonerfandave84 says:

          Or UCLA, maybe stop them from looting so much Texas talent that OU needs

          • John Garner says:

            Geez, and not just UCLA. Heck Michigan just did a satellite camp in Dallas in conjunction with some other school. Was it Bama? I don.t recall. The pickings aren’t getting thin, but the competition for what’s there is getting thick.

    • John Garner says:

      Yeah, a lot of football prospects in Ireland. (small joke)

    • Jordan Esco says:

      In theory I could get on board, but OU’s home schedule every other year is already so blech I think that’s the immediate counter argument, IMO.

      • Boom says:

        Scheduling games overseas is about marketing and money for the program. Selling more T-shirts etc.

        • Jordan Esco says:

          I think OU sells plenty of t-shirts, just ask Ok. State fans 😉

          • Boom says:

            That’s why I see the Baylor’s trying to bring more exposure to their university or more importantly, to their budget.

      • rphokc says:

        blech?……sounds bad

      • Rene Goupillaud says:

        Our conference sucks so with RRS in Dallas we have only 1 to 2 decent home conference games. Then we only have 1 good nonconference opponent every other year.

        Unfortunately, college football has been living off a fan base that wants wins rather than great games. Look at Bama and Baylor, they pack the stadium to play the equivalent of good high school JV team because the fans want to see blowouts (and tailgate

        OU made the BCS Championship because we played tougher schedules than we do now. We don’t get a pass like Bama does for playing Chatanooga State because they benefit from the myth of the SEC conference being so tough.

        • rphokc says:

          they’re playing wisky tho it’s in tx………bama was smart to play neutral site games in tx imo…recruiting and fan base can travel there

    • L'Carpetron Dookmarriot says:

      OU will be playing Tennessee in Tennessee. OU also played in Orlando last year, just down the street from UCF. And in New Orleans the year before. We’ll also be playing at Ohio State in a couple of years and at Michigan in a lot of years (maybe).

      Winning game gets you on TV more . Getting on TV more gets kids exposure. Kids like exposure. Kids commit. QED.

  • Soonerfandave84 says:

    How much of the darkhorse talk is just Bobs history of winning the B12 the year after a 5 loss season?(’00, ’06, ’10)

    • HoustonChiver says:

      That 06 season was spectacular for me. I was a freshman in 05 and everyone acted like the world was ending, was nice to rise from the ashes of “failure” like a crimson and cream phoenix!

      • Soonerfandave84 says:

        Yeah, I was happy for PT the way it worked out. He’s a good dude. I run into him on occasion for work stuff

  • Malicong says:

    10 of 13 ESPN 300 recruits sounds great in a tweet but time will tell if this number will actually mean anything on signing day. Most of those 10 were early commits (some very very early for Baylor) and there is still a chance some of them are flipped. I don’t think either is going to go the way of Kansas anytime soon, but I don’t see them as long term national contenders either.

    • Soonerfandave84 says:

      Art Briles has Baylor rolling and Patterson is a good coach in his own right, they won’t fall far unless those guys head to the NFL

      • John Garner says:

        Agree. Briles and Patterson are great coaches and will keep their programs relevant. If we’re going to compete, we need to elevate. Flushing out the staff was a good move except Bob held on to one guy that I think he should have let go.

        • Soonerfandave84 says:

          If they struggle this year, he’s gotta go

          • John Garner says:

            Yep.

          • D Hunter Sanchez says:

            Would you agree with me that giving up more than 25 points a game would classify as struggling? That’s what, three tds and a fg.

          • Soonerfandave84 says:

            In this league 25 ppg is probably ok, but that still seems like struggling to me

          • John Garner says:

            Maybe but consider last years record if our D could have held opponents to 25 points. The spread system rules right now. Even Nick Saban bitches about it.

          • Soonerfandave84 says:

            Yeah and the pick 6’s and near pick 6 plus a second punt vs Okie State didnt help the numbers

      • D Hunter Sanchez says:

        In my view falling means not winning the Big 12 title. Baylor is not going to go 11-1, 10-2 every year… TCU will have a good year because of Boykin, but after that TCU will go back to 9-3 etc…However, this is assuming OU ascends to its rightful place and record of 10-2, 11-1 etc…

        • Soonerfandave84 says:

          Yeah OU needs to improve on all sides of the ball, they still have the horses to play for the NC. Still think they quit vs Baylor last year

          • D Hunter Sanchez says:

            That Baylor home game was the worst I’ve seen since V USC. Think of it, we were up 14-3 starting another drive and TK throws a near pick 6.

          • Soonerfandave84 says:

            thats when they quit IMO, the game just spiraled from there

          • John Garner says:

            Quit? Really? I’m going to DVR that game one more time. I didn’t see that.

          • D Hunter Sanchez says:

            You must like pain.

          • John Garner says:

            LOL! Rewatching the USC Orange Bowl and last year’s Baylor game is my version fifty shades baby.

          • John Garner says:

            I sure didn’t like our game plan of playing soft vs. BU’s WRs. Of course, I’m no DC by any stretch of the imagination. I just think that coaching lost us more games last season than did the players. The schemes, on both sides of the ball, often didn’t fit our skills. It was like we played not to lose, rather than to win.

          • Soonerfandave84 says:

            I believe Tapper even came out and said they quit

        • SoonerfanTU says:

          Everybody assumes that about Boykin. Sports history is full of guys that came out of nowhere to have good seasons, and then were unable to replicate that success the following year. Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Boykin come back to earth a bit this year.

        • Stephen Dale says:

          I think Baylor has a chance to go undefeated if the new QB, Seth Russell, plays as well as many expect……Should come down to Baylor – TCU again……….

      • Fear The Magic says:

        For some reason I can tolerate TCU more than Baylor. Briles and that whole program just pisses me off lol.

        • SoonerGoneEast says:

          Not just the football teams, but much of their athletic program, tennis, basketball, etc. is classless and off-putting, coaches, players and fans alike.

    • SamSooner says:

      ESPN 300, what a marketing gimmick.

      • John Garner says:

        Good point.

      • Cory Reedy says:

        Didn’t it start out as the ESPN 100…then 150. Now it’s 300. Before long it will be the ESPN 1,000! I may be on THAT list. : )

        • SamSooner says:

          That made me laugh.

        • SamSooner says:

          Another thing to think about, where do these top 300 players live? In the SEC country. If so, I find it hard to believe that as vast as this country is, and as many high schools there are in the U.S., that the top 300 reside in one region of the country.

          More propoganda.

      • SoonerGoneEast says:

        True.

    • SoonerGoneEast says:

      For that to mean anything you must first buy in to the premise that ESPN is the end all be all of college football player rankings.

      • SamSooner says:

        Yes, you are correct. That’s exactly what they try to make you think. This is why we have he Under Armour all star game. If I’m not mistaken, only ESPN 300 players get an invite.

    • Bob Edwards says:

      I think TCU is the more likely to have sticking power than Baylor. Briles seems to tolerate or even encourage a thuggish attitude in his players. That will usually result in loss of control at some point.

      The challenge for TCU is can Patterson motivate the prima donnas that invariable come with highly ranked players. Patterson seemed to do well getting guys the others did not want and motivating them. He is now getting another type of player. It is yet to be seen if he can motivate them. I have seen guys like him often struggle once they get the top guys.

      • SoonerMGB56 says:

        Bob, this is getting scary…..I agree with you so much on this one….
        Baylor is a team of thugs, and have been the entire time Briles has been there. They always have a safety that will have one or more dirty hits per game. And Oakman is an arrogant, overrated, street thug. His hit on TK9 last year was the dirtiest play I’ve seen in years. And the really sad thing about Baylor’s thugs, is they get away with a lot.
        Throw in Briles incessant whining, and they have surpassed the two orange teams on my despise list.

        • SoonerGoneEast says:

          How you play and how you represent yourself and your team are much more important than winning. Baylor never got that memo. We should be so thankful that JC has unwavering standards and expectations when evaluating potential coaching candidates.

  • John Garner says:

    Wow, it brought a tear to my eye to watch the trailer with Robin Williams. I really liked him. I don’t understand suicide but neither do I understand depression.

    • Fear The Magic says:

      I dont understand suicide either but as far as depression goes I got it twice last year ironically right after the Baylor and Clemson games.

  • Sooner 4Ever says:

    This is pretty good stuff from Arnold… I especially liked it at the 3 minute mark when he’s at the Justin Beiber waxwork.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBCSrC0TIgo

  • SoonerfanTU says:

    The next person that quotes recruiting rankings that factor in number of signees, I’m going to throw a rotten tomato at you.

    Where did OU end up last year, purely from an average stars per signee ranking? Pretty solid wasn’t it, something like 8th or so in the country?

    • EasTex says:

      Yep.

    • SoonerGoneEast says:

      And furthermore, those who rank recruiting classes refuse to factor in or even acknowledge who best addressed their positions of need, which in my opinion makes their rankings useless.

  • Malicong says:

    http://247sports.com/Bolt/UAs-Flowers-ineligible-Cook-no-longer-with-team-37809561
    Saw this yesterday. Interesting turn of events as Alabama’s top RB recruit, who was already on campus and played in the spring game, is actually academically ineligible (he didn’t meet the initial requirements and they just now discovered it) and will have to go the JUCO route. This is terrible for the kid. I though Texas dropped the ball with Lampkin but this is really bad. Alabama now only has 4 scholarship RB’s with one coming off an ACL tear in the spring and another a true freshman. They are so thin at RB, they had to convert a DB to RB.

    • Eric Hoffpauir says:

      They have 19 coaches and couldn’t catch this? Too many cooks in the kitchen?

      • Malicong says:

        I don’t know how that gets by everyone for six months. My anti-Alabama instincts tell me that they knew about it and were trying to get around it but ultimately couldn’t hide it. My logical side says someone in admissions majorly screwed up and may be out of a job soon.

        • Soonerfandave84 says:

          the later part is the story you’ll get, the prior part is probably the correct version

          • Eric Hoffpauir says:

            Yup. Seems unlikely admissions would even be able to make a mistake like that.

          • EasTex says:

            Do they even have a compliance department?
            Must be some big gaps in their planks.

    • Fear The Magic says:

      Im sure Bama can dip into its massive stock of gray shirts and pull up a good RB

    • BigJoeBrown says:

      Didn’t we do that with with someone? Was it Kejuan Jones? Do you all remember? I remember running thin one time and I thought Stoops converted a DB to RB.

  • JD says:

    As long as Bob Stoops is here we will always be in the hunt…be grateful guys

  • Sooner born, Sooner bred says:

    The Tulsa World ” OU sports extra ” says Boudreaux is a linebacker recruit. Sure miss the days when Bill Connor was sports editor of Tulsa World. One great sports columnist and class individual. That’s one big linebacker recruit! Boomer! OU ☝

    • Jordan Esco says:

      the local papers,at least online, have turned into very little more than poorly run content aggregating blogs, and (to your point) very poorly run ones at that.

      it’s kind of a joke, actually. especially given how quick many of their employees are to look their noses down on sites such as ours. hypocritical much?

      • Sooner born, Sooner bred says:

        Growing up in Tulsa, always looked forward to Bill Connor articles. Read you guy’s religiously everyday now. Great reading, posts with really accurate information. Like I’ve said, I don’t know how it works with y’all, but you deserve a raise. Thanks….Boomer! OU☝

      • SamSooner says:

        Jordan, this is the only site that’s not recycling what you all report. What you all give us is original and based on your own curiosity for the most part.

        The other websites are recycling, no recycling, printing regurgitated news. All of their articles read the same. So don’t bother going to ESPN after you’ve gone to Fox Sports after you’ve gone to CBS Sports hoping to get something different.

        It’s pathetic. A person could make a living by talking about what no one else is talking about.

      • Brien Brown says:

        Yea I don’t read the paper much anymore except really during football season to keep up with local HS teams. As far as Sooner news I am on this site daily, and even find myself going back and reading old articles and reading them. Such good in depth coverage and reports. Keep it real with a bit of personal input as well. Loved the write up on Draper it was so in depth and good. Love this site 110%. Great job guys and thanks for the fun and free read!

      • Sooner born, Sooner bred says:

        Failed to mention that I agree with you about playing with a chip on their shoulder. Coach Switzer was the best ” bar none ” when it came to using the underdog ” us against the world ” card. Anyone say run through a wall for ya!

      • soonerthunder says:

        I NEVER read local newspapers. I say never. I did the other day go to the dentist and to get my car window fixed and looked through the sports page. Wouldn’t say I read a single article.

        Same with “sports” radio. I have my dials set to 3 “sports” radio stations. IF I turn it to one and they are on commercials, not talking sports (food, weather, their families, etc) or if they are, on occasion talking sports but saying stupid stuff or talking about something I’m not interested in (Lebron James, Tour deFrance) I turn it immediately. My goal is 1 to 2 seconds they have to get my attention. I can tell usually that quick if it’s a commercial (I refuse to listen to one second, even tell me where they are located–that’s a commercial), stupid (my wife plays in a women’s soccer league, how do you get rid of snakes in the yard, I’ve got a headache/flu), or I couldn’t care less (A&M wants to turn a RB into a DB).

        OU, Thunder, Big 12, NFL–but even with these major interests I may not be interested in listening to them drone on and on about nonsense.

        All that means I rarely listen to sports on the radio. I go here for a quick update, and could listen to “sports” radio for 10 hours and not get as much information as I get here in about 2-3 minutes, and watch the sports I’m interested in. I refuse to reward a station that has about 30 minutes of commercials every hour, then take 3-5 minutes to get back into talking sports and sometimes never b/f going back into 5 minutes or more of commercials. I’m so anti-“sports” radio that if someone advertises on their radio stations and I do know it, I’d go out of my way not to buy from them. x

        It’s my own little sit-in but I think it’s the only way to really get true sports talk radio, and secondly, I finally have a life. I used to listen for hours and would hear absolutely nothing sports and lots of commercials.

        Nope, never again.

      • Rene Goupillaud says:

        Sadly, even TV looks to social media and the Internet for content. Newspapers are for those who have no access to the Internet. Even major outlets (New York Times and Washington Post aren’t doing the kind of investigative reporting they did in the past.

        Look at the lack of editing. Misspelled words, wrong words, incomplete sentences and illogical statements you see every day. If the editors don’t read the stuff, why should the writer care to get it right, and why should we read it?

    • soonerthunder says:

      He runs a legit 4.5 40. His size/speed is average SEC size/speed for a LB. OU needs to recruit more LBs like him.

  • Soonerfandave84 says:

    “They didn’t pay me, but there may have been cash going around to some other players,” said Simms. “I’m not going to deny that. I may have gotten a few $100 handshakes every now and then to sign some autographs for alumni.

    http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/25218285/chris-simms-says-he-may-have-gotten-a-few-100-handshakes-at-texas

  • SamSooner says:

    We should not pay any attention to player ranking services: ESPN 300 or Rivals or Scout.
    I offer up this: Muhammad Wilkerson was picked 30th in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft.
    I searched the 2006 and 2007 ESPN 300 and his name doesn’t appear.

    The top DTs in 2006 and 2007 were as follows: Gerald McCoy was the only first round pick. I looked at the 2010 and 2011 draft.
    2006
    Al Woods LSU
    Sam Young ND
    Gerald McCoy OU

    2007
    Marvin Austin UNC
    Tray Allen texsa

    My point is it’s all subjective. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

    • Eric Hoffpauir says:

      I tend to agree that recruiting ratings are overblown, but there’s no denying that in the aggregate, 5 stars are the most likely to be drafted, followed by 4 stars and 3 stars and no stars.

      • SamSooner says:

        Eric, I wish I had the time to cross reference the ratings coming out of high school based on the number of stars to who make the pros.

        There are a lot of players starting in the NFL who played at FCS schools.

        I know this is basketball but Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen come to mind.
        Check this out:

        • Eric Hoffpauir says:

          I’m talking about the aggregate. There are a lot more 3* or unrated players, so of course you’re going to be able to find a fair few who went on to play or even star in the NFL, just like you can find low round or undrafted players who went on to succeed for their teams. There are fewer 4 star and 5 star players, and the percentage of busts among them are lower.

          I’ll see if I can dig up the link.

        • Eric Hoffpauir says:

          Here it is: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2014/5/12/5696710/nfl-draft-recruits-five-stars-two-stars

          Note that proportionally, many more 5 stars are getting drafted than their lower rated counterparts.

          • SamSooner says:

            Eric, thanks for sending this to me. I’ll have to read it later. This is the kind information I love to dissect.

            One thing I would look for is the total number of players in each star ranking, not percentages. I would expect to see all of the five-star players to be drafted, not necessarily who is picked in the first round.

            Another thing I’d look for is, by position, are five-star players being selected before four-star players and so forth in their respected position.

          • Eric Hoffpauir says:

            They have the info about the total number of players drafted in each star ranking. Position info would be nice, as well as followups for years as well.

            All of this is largely academic though. I don’t really care if OU doesn’t have a single drafted player if they are contending for a national championship. And schools from Baylor to K-State to Oregon have shown that you don’t need a team stocked with multiple top rated classes to contend for a national championship. Heck, Texas has “outrecruited” OU most years during Stoops’ tenure, but OU has the edge on the field where it matters.

          • SamSooner says:

            You are correct. It’s about outworking the person across from you.

  • OceanDescender says:

    Please make the Pac 12 team Baylor is supposedly facing be USC and not Colorado hahaha. I don’t wanna hear the Bears whining for respect if they go half way around the world to beat the Boulder buffs…

  • Shelby is a Patriot says:

    Yes, because I’m sure Australia is just dying to see Baylor, of all programs if any, in person…